Air fryer teriyaki chicken thighs are done in about 20 minutes and leave you with a juicy, perfectly glazed, and tender piece of chicken. Use boneless skinless chicken thighs tossed in homemade teriyaki sauce for an easy weeknight dinner.
In a medium saucepan combine soy sauce, brown sugar, rice wine vinegar, maple syrup, garlic and ginger. Combine ingredients and cook over medium low heat at a simmer for about 5 minutes. Stir occasionally to avoid burning.
After 5 minutes, in a small bowl, combine water and cornstarch until it forms a slurry. Whisk the slurry into the sauce and allow to come back to a simmer and thicken, this should take about 1-2 minutes. The sauce will be visibly thicker. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Cooking the Chicken
Preheat the air fryer to 400 F.
While preheating, toss chicken thighs with about half of the teriyaki sauce. Save the other half of the teriyaki sauce in the pan for after the chicken is cooked. Make sure chicken thighs are well coated.
Place chicken thighs in a single layer and cook for 6 minutes. If all the chicken doesn’t fit in a single layer, cook in batches.
Flip chicken over and cook for another 5-6 minutes until chicken is at least 175 F internally.
Remove chicken from the air fryer and allow it to rest for 5 minutes. Cut into bite size pieces and toss in remaining sauce.
Garnish with sesame seeds and serve with vegetables and rice.
Notes
Store bought teriyaki sauce will work just as well with this recipe.
Add cornstarch to water to make a slurry before adding to the sauce to avoid a clumpy mess.
Boneless skinless chicken thighs are more forgiving, juicier and more tender than chicken breasts, chicken breasts cooking time may be different.
Store teriyaki sauce in the fridge for up to 2 weeks in the fridge or up to 3 months in the freezer. Thaw in the fridge before using.
Store cooked chicken for up to 3 days in the fridge.